Some folks claim there is no longer a legitimate prophetic gift of God in operation among Christians. They say Christ came and the gift of prophecy stopped right away or shortly thereafter. Have you ever heard or perhaps even yourself said, “We have Jesus. We have the Bible. So we don’t need prophecy any longer. God doesn’t do that anymore.” This perspective is called cessationist and it’s sometimes backed up with scriptures such as the one below.

Regarding the problem with the argument against prophecy as related to this passage: According to reasoning experts, it is not valid or logical to use two positive premises as a basis for drawing a negative conclusion. The verse says, “God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets” (positive) and “in these last days he has spoken to us by his son” (positive). It is not sound reasoning to conclude anything negative about the continued existence of the prophetic gift or the office of the prophet based on these two positive statements simply because the word “but” is in there. The fallacy in reasoning has a formal name called “Negative conclusion from affirmative premises.” You can find further explanation of that and other logical fallacies here.

Elsewhere in the New Testament it is apparent in more than one place that after the resurrection of Jesus, disciples still respected and practiced the prophetic gift. If we look beyond this one place in the Bible we clearly discover the early church considered the prophetic word to be relevant to their current experience. Furthermore, believers other than the original 12 disciples exercised the gift. Since the time of the early church for many hundreds of years it became uncommon but in recent times prophecy has been exercised more frequently. Prophecy is given as a help for us. Scripture says, “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” (1Co 14:1 ESV).   and “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith…” (Rom 12:6 ESV) And, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1Th 5:20-21). There is more instruction on the prophetic in the scriptures. Do search it out and you will discover much. The hungry are fed. For Jeremiah prophesied, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” (Jer 33:3 ESV) And “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.”  (Pro 25:2 ESV)

 

Now if others don’t want to avail themselves of the prophetic gift, which God gave for the believer’s benefit, that’s their choice. It’s not appropriate to force gifts on anyone. But someone else’s resolve doesn’t have to be yours and choices can change over time. Don’t allow another person’s reticence at a particular moment in time to become an attitude you catch like a cold. Don’t be walled off from the blessings of a lifetime. Be encouraged! Allow yourself room for faith sized steps and Bible based adventure which can spark phenomenal personal growth in your relationship with God. Other folks’ reluctance to experience something new doesn’t have to become yours. Ungodly fears can be overcome. The weight of scripture is on the side of prophecy being a legitimate gift of God. Learning to test the veracity of any particular prophetic word is also an important part of the process. Not all words that appear to be prophetic are really from the Lord. But that’s another topic. It suffices to say exposure to the prophetic gift provides you an opportunity to develop greater discernment which is part of growing up as a believer. Will you consider taking the invitation to enter in?

 

Royalty free photos downloaded from Pixabay.com.